Derailing device with safety lock

ABSTRACT

An interlocking motor operated door and derailing device has a building protecting derailing apparatus that cannot be rendered ineffective while the door is closed. An electrical circuit operates through a solenoid opened lock to permit the derailing device to be rendered inoperative only when the door is fully opened and when a manually controlled switch is closed. A combination light and sound warning system is activated when the derailing device is rendered ineffective and train traffic lights are automatically operated to indicate that the door is open and the derailing device rendered ineffective.

United States Patent [191 Wanha Sept. 2, 1975 DERAILING DEVICE WITHSAFETY LOCK Rayno H. Wanha, 8269 Vaughan, Detroit, Mich. 48228 [22]Filed: Feb. 28, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 447,119

[76] Inventor:

[52] US. Cl. 246/118; 246/374; 246/170 [51] Int. Cl. B61L 29/24 [58]Field of Search 246/170, 163, 131, 118, 246/261, 272, 374; 14/49, 50

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 925,774 6/1909 Hullett246/374 990,273 4/191 1 Kieffer 246/374 1,001,927 8/191 1 Browning.246/374 1,439,371 12/1922 Leedy 246/3'74 Primary Examiner-M. HensonWood, Jr. Assistant Examiner-Reinhard J. Eisenzopf Attorney, Agent. orFirmRobert L. Farris; Shortley & Farris 5 7 ABSTRACT An interlockingmotor operated door and derailing device has a building protectingdrailing apparatus that cannot be rendered ineffective while the door isclosed. An electrical circuit operates through a sole noid opened lockto permit the derailing device to be rendered inoperative only when thedoor is fully opened and when a manually controlled switch is closed. Acombination light and sound warning system is activated when thederailing device is rendered ineffective and train traffic lights areautomatically operated to indicate that the door is open and thederailing device rendered ineffective.

8 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTED SEP 2 i 75 SHEET 1 (IF 2 PATENTEBSE? 975 SHEET 2 BF 2 .1 DERAILING DEVICE WITH SAFETY LOCK This inventionrelates to railcar derailing devices and more particularly to aninterlocking control for such devices.

Where rail-side tracks lead through openings into buildings wherein railcars are loaded or unloaded, it is often necessary to provide closuredoors for the openings to prevent access by weather as well as personsto the building. Where relatively long trains are operated and where thetrain locomotive engineer may be some distance away from the buildingentrance, it is desirable to provide a car derailing device to prevent arail car from hitting a closed or partially closed door.

In order to insure that the derailing device is not accidently moved toan inoperative position when the door is closed and that the door is notclosed while the derailer is inactive, it is desirable that aninterlocking control between the door, its operating means, and thederailing means be provided to insure proper operation.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a rail carderailing apparatus interconnected with a building door operator toprotect the door.

It is further an object to provide such an apparatus whose protectionfunction cannot accidently or other wise be eliminated.

These and other objects and advantages will be readily apparent from thefollowing description and accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a view of the invention in place on a track leading into abuilding;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the derailing operating appa ratus;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 33 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 4 is a further sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the electrical control system for theinvention; and

FIG. 6 schematically shows a dual track control for a single entrancedoor.

Referring now to FIG. 1 which shows a typical rail siding comprisingrails 1 and 3 leading into a building 5 having a power operated door 7.Located adjacent to the rail 3 is the derailing apparatus which includesa wheel raising and derailing block 9 that is moved between an operativederailing position shown in FIG. 1 to a nonoperative position inward ofthe rail 3. The derailing block 9 is connected to and is moved by link11 pivotally attached to a lever 13 pivoted about the axis of pin 15 ona bracket 16 fastened on a tie member. An operating link 17 extends intoa gear box 19 and is connected to be oscillated back and forth by an armsecured to a bevel gear 20, on a shaft 21 on which is mounted anindicator lamp 23. The bevel gear is rotated by a right angle bevel gear25 attached to a shaft 27 extending out from the gear box 19. The shaft27 is adapted to be rotated through a l80 movement by an operatinghandle 29.

It will be seen that movement from the full line position shown in FIG.2 to the broken line position in FIG. 2 will cause the gears 25 and 20to be rotated with bevel gear 20 rotating 90 to rotate the indicatorlamp 23 90. The operating link 17 is also moved to the left and thusmoves the derailing block 9 away from its operative position over therail 3.

The operating handle 29 is normally held in its derailing position by alatch mechanism generally. indicated 31. The latch mechanism includes apivoted cam 33 having a locking portion 35 that acts to prevent theoperating handle 29 from being raised. The pivoted cam 33 is suspendedbetween mounting brackets 37. The mounting brackets 37 and pivoted cam33 have apertures through which a locking; pin 39 is urged by spring 41into position to lock the pivoted cam 33 in its locking position shownin FIG. 3. The locking pin 39 can be retracted by energization ofsolenoid 43.

FIG. 5 illustrates the electrical control for the door, the interlockand various warning and indicator means. The control shown is usuablewith a dual track system such as illustrated in FIG. 6wherein a pair oftracks lead to a single entrance door in a building. The controlincludes a power supply having a step-down transformer 51 with oneoutput winding supplying a pair of lines 53 and 55 and a second outputwinding supplying a low voltage that is rectified by diode bridge 57 tosupply low voltage lamps 59 located in the rotatable signal indicatorlamps 23 which indicate the go or no go con dition of the derailingapparatus located at B or C.

The building door is operated by a pair of motor relays MO and MC whichoperate a motor to open and close the door respectively. The relay MO isactuated by closing switch 61. Limit switches LS1 and LS2 are normallyclosed with LS2 opened by the door reaching its fully opened position toopen the relay and stop the motor. Normally closed contacts B1 on relayB and contacts C1 on relay C remain closed at this time. The door isclosed by closing switch 63 to energize relay MC to operate the doormotor to lower the door. Limit switch LS3 opens when the door reachesits fully closed position.

When the limit switch LS4 is closed by the door reaching its openposition, current is available to an interlock switch 65 which whenactivated actuates relay A which has a holding contact A1. Pilot lights67 are energized to indicate that power is available to the derailcontrol circuit by normally opened contacts A2 being closed when relay Ais actuated. Solenoid 43 acts to pull its locking pin 39 (FIG. 4)against spring 41 to release the pivoted cam 33 on derail unit B formovement, while solenoid 71 operates in a similar way in derail unit C.

Relay A, in addition to the holding contacts A1 and the unlockingcontacts A2, has normally closed contacts A3 and A5 acting to light redtraffic or warning lights 79 and 80 warning that the derail unit isoperative. Contacts A4 and A6 are normally open and are closed to permitenergization of amber traffic lights 81 and 82.

With the locking pin 39 in position releasing pivoted cam 33, the samecan be rotated away from the position shown in FIG. 3 to free derailoperating handle for operation. The derail operating handle 29 of unit Band corresponding handle in unit C have mercury switches and 77 attachedthereto. When the operating handle 29 is in derail operation positionshown in FIG. 2, the switch contacts are open. When the operating handle29 is moved to non-derail position moving derailing block 9 away fromthe rail, the mercury switch 75 closes to energize a relay B havingnormally closed contacts B1 and B3 and normally open contacts B2 and B4.A relay C for derail unit C is similarly energized by closing of themercury switch 77.

When relay B is energized, the contacts Bl open to prevent any furtheroperation of the door motors which B3 opens to turn off the red trafficlight 79 and contacts B4 close to light amber traffic light 81. Thiswould indicate to the train crew that the derail unit is inoperative andthat it is safe to move cars into the building. At the same timecontacts B2 are closed to energize a motor flasher unit having contactsMF] which energize flashing warning lights 83 and 85 to warn that a carmay be entering the building. A sound alarm 87 is also operated bycontacts MP2.

Overload contacts 89 and 91 act to open the door motor circuit if thedoor engages an obstacle either in raising or closing.

While the operation of the system can be followed from the abovedescription, a brief summary of the operation is as follows. With thebuilding door closed and the derailing unit operative as shown in FIGS.1, 2 and 3, the closing switch 61 is manually closed to operate the dooropening relay MO which energizes holding contacts M01 and the door opensuntil limit switch LS2 opens to stop the motor. Limit switch LS4 closesto activate the interlock circuit. Interlock switch 65 is then manuallyoperated to energize relay A and pilot lights 67 are lit. Contact A1closes to hold the circuit and A2 closes to energize the unlockingsolenoids 43 and 71. The locking pin 39 is retracted. Pivoted cam 33 ismanually moved away from operating handle 29 which is then swung to movethe derailing block away from the rail and turn the indicator lamp 23.

When operating handle 29 is operated, the mercury switch 75 closes toactuate relay B. Contacts Bl open to prevent further operation of thedoor, B2 closes to operate the warning lamps and alarm. B3 opens to turnoff the red traffic light and B4 closes to turn on the amber light. Therailcars can then be moved into the building. The parallel derailingsystem C would be operated in the same manner with relay C energized bymoving the handle for derail unit C and mercury switch 77 energizing therelay C to set the alarm and traffic lights 80 and 82.

To reverse the operation after the railcar or the train is free of theentrance area, the operating handle 29 is again moved to move the derailblock into operative position. Mercury switch 75 opens de-energizingrelay B. Contacts B1 close to again energize the door operating circuit.The motor flasher MP is de-energized by contact B2 opening, ambertraffic light 81 is turned off by contacts B4 opening and red trafficlight 79 turned on by contact B3 closing. The latch or pivoted cam 33 isthen moved to its locking position over the operating handle 29 and thedoor closing switch 63 is closed to activate the door motor closingrelay MC. When the door reaches its closed position the limit switch LS3opens to stop the motor.

When the door begins to close, the limit switch LS4 opens to deactivaterelay A. Contacts A2 then open and the solenoid 43 is cut off allowingspring 41 to insert the locking pin 39 into the pivoted cam 33 to lockthe same in place until the door is fully opened again.

It will be apparent that changes and modifications may be made to theapparatus and electrical circuit without departing from the spirit ofthe invention which is limited only by the following claims. Forexample, three or more derailing devices could be interconnected withthe door control. Likewise, several motor controlled doors could beinterconnected with one or more derailing devices.

I claim:

1. A derailing apparatus for protecting a building and associatedrailcar door, said apparatus including door operating means, railcarderailing means having an operative and inoperative position and meansoperatively interconnecting said door operating means and said derailingmeans and wherein said door operating means comprises an electric motor,control means for said motor including normally closed relay contacts inseries with said motor, actuating means for moving said derailing meansfrom its operative position and switch means responsive to movement ofsaid actuating means to operate said relay to cause said contacts toopen and thus prevent said motor from operating said door whenever saidderailing means is not in an operative position.

2. A derailing apparatus for protecting a building and associatedrailcar door, said apparatus including door operating means, railcarderailing means having an operative and inoperative position and meansoperatively interconnecting said door operating means and said derailing means including locking means to positively lock the derailingmeans in its operative position and means associated with said door fordeactuating said locking means responsive to said door being in its openposition.

3. The derailing apparatus of claim 2 wherein said derailing meanscomprises a derailing block movable between operative and inoperativepositions by a manually operated linkage including a two positionoperating handle, mercury switch means on said handle adapted toenergize a control circuit that effectively prevents said door operatingmeans from being actuated.

4. A derailing apparatus for protecting a building and associatedrailcar door, said apparatus including door operating means, railcarderailing means having an operative and inoperative position and meansoperatively interconnecting said door operating means and said derailingmeans and wherein said derailing means is moved between its operativeand inoperative position by an actuating device, controllable lock meansfor said actuating device normally locking the same in an oper' ativederailing position and release means for causing said lock means torelease said actuating means, said last mentioned release means operableonly when said door is in its open position.

5. The derailing apparatus of claim 4 wherein the door is opened andclosed by electric motor means, a motor control circuit for said motormeans including a first switch for operating said motor means to causedoor to open and a second switch to cause said door to close, anunlocking control circuit including a relay activated by the door beingin its open position and by a manual switch, said relay having a firstpair of normally closed contacts that are opened when the relay isactuated and which open the motor control circuit preventing operationof the door actuating means.

6. The derailing apparatus of claim 5 wherein said relay has a secondpair of normally open contacts which are closed when the relay is openedand which cause activation of a warning device to indicate said lockmeans is inoperative to prevent said derailing means from being moved toits inoperative position.

7. The derailing apparatus of claim 6 wherein said relay has a third setof normally closed contacts operaposition, manually actuated linkage formoving said device between its blocking and unblocking positions, areleasable latch for holding said linkage in derailing operativeposition and lock means normally preventing the latch from beingreleased, electrical means for deactivating said lock means, electricalswitch means for preventing actuation of said electrical means unlesssaid movable device is in its unblocking position.

1. A derailing apparatus for protecting a building and associatedrailcar door, said apparatus including door operating means, railcarderailing means having an operative and inoperative position and meansoperatively interconnecting said door operating means and said derailingmeans and wherein said door operating means comprises an electric motor,control means for said motor including normally closed relay contacts inseries with said motor, actuating means for moving said derailing meansfrom its operative position and switch means responsive to movement ofSaid actuating means to operate said relay to cause said contacts toopen and thus prevent said motor from operating said door whenever saidderailing means is not in an operative position.
 2. A derailingapparatus for protecting a building and associated railcar door, saidapparatus including door operating means, railcar derailing means havingan operative and inoperative position and means operativelyinterconnecting said door operating means and said derailing meansincluding locking means to positively lock the derailing means in itsoperative position and means associated with said door for deactuatingsaid locking means responsive to said door being in its open position.3. The derailing apparatus of claim 2 wherein said derailing meanscomprises a derailing block movable between operative and inoperativepositions by a manually operated linkage including a two positionoperating handle, mercury switch means on said handle adapted toenergize a control circuit that effectively prevents said door operatingmeans from being actuated.
 4. A derailing apparatus for protecting abuilding and associated railcar door, said apparatus including dooroperating means, railcar derailing means having an operative andinoperative position and means operatively interconnecting said dooroperating means and said derailing means and wherein said derailingmeans is moved between its operative and inoperative position by anactuating device, controllable lock means for said actuating devicenormally locking the same in an operative derailing position and releasemeans for causing said lock means to release said actuating means, saidlast mentioned release means operable only when said door is in its openposition.
 5. The derailing apparatus of claim 4 wherein the door isopened and closed by electric motor means, a motor control circuit forsaid motor means including a first switch for operating said motor meansto cause door to open and a second switch to cause said door to close,an unlocking control circuit including a relay activated by the doorbeing in its open position and by a manual switch, said relay having afirst pair of normally closed contacts that are opened when the relay isactuated and which open the motor control circuit preventing operationof the door actuating means.
 6. The derailing apparatus of claim 5wherein said relay has a second pair of normally open contacts which areclosed when the relay is opened and which cause activation of a warningdevice to indicate said lock means is inoperative to prevent saidderailing means from being moved to its inoperative position.
 7. Thederailing apparatus of claim 6 wherein said relay has a third set ofnormally closed contacts operative to energize a stop warning light andwhich are opened by actuation of said relay and a fourth set of normallyopen contacts operative to energize a go light and which are closed byactuation of said relay.
 8. A railcar derailing apparatus for derailinga railcar prior to collision with a movable device that is movablebetween a blocking and an unblocking position, and a control for theapparatus, said apparatus including a derailing device having anoperative and an inoperative position, manually actuated linkage formoving said device between its blocking and unblocking positions, areleasable latch for holding said linkage in derailing operativeposition and lock means normally preventing the latch from beingreleased, electrical means for deactivating said lock means, electricalswitch means for preventing actuation of said electrical means unlesssaid movable device is in its unblocking position.